296 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



MEMOEY,— AND THE "LIGHT OF OTHEE 



DAYS." 



We all know what a power there is in memory ; 

 when made to array before the guilty, clays and 

 scenes of comparative innocence. It is with an 

 absolutely crushing might that the remembrance 

 of the years and home of his boyhood will come 

 upon the criminal, when brought to a pause in 

 his career of misdoing ; and perhaps about to 

 suffer its penalties. If we knew his early his- 

 tory, and it would bear us out in the attempt, we 

 should make it our business to set before him the 

 scenery of his native village, the cottage where 

 he was born, the school to which he was sent, 

 the church where he first heard the gospel 

 preached ; and we should call to his recollection 

 the father and mother long since gathered to 

 their rest, who warned him even with tears 

 against evil ways and evil companions. We 

 should remind him, how peacefully his days 

 then glided away ; with how much of happiness 

 he was blessed in possession, how much of hope 

 in prospect. And he may now be a hardened 

 and desperate man ; but we will never believe, 

 that as his young days were thus passing before 

 him, and the reverend forms of his parents came 

 back from the grave, and the trees that grew 

 round his birth-place waved over him their 

 foliage, and he saw himself once more as he was 

 in early life, when he knew crime but by name, 

 and knew it only to abhor — we will never believe 

 that he could be proof against invective, proof 

 against reproach, proof against remonstrance. 

 When we brought memory to bear upon him, 

 and bade it people itself with all the imagery of 

 youth, we believe that, for the moment at least, 

 the obdurate being would be subdued ; and a 

 sudden gush of tears prove that we had opened a 

 long sealed-up fountain. — Melville. 



[These are admirable sentiments; but we can 

 never bring ourselves to believe that men thus 

 educated, could turn out " criminals." It is the 

 want of due attention to a child's early educa- 

 tion, either among the rich or the poor, that 

 makes men criminals. They regard vice with a 

 kindly eye when young, and grow up " con- 

 firmed" in loose habits, by practice. " Train vp 

 a child in the way he should go," and -he will 

 rarely become desperately hardened. On such a 

 man, memory might be brought to bear with 

 telling effect. We shudder to observe how 

 children are now brought up. Before they are 

 eight years old, they smoke, swear, and ape all 

 the manners of a grown-up person — aye, and 

 know more at that tender age than we did 

 when we were eighteen ! The " consequences" 

 are generally chronicled in the newspapers.] 



Idiosyncrasy. — The following anecdote of a 

 late President of Cambridge College, illustrates 

 the peculiarity of his mathematical genius. When 

 sailing one day with company for pleasure, he 

 accidentally fell overboard. After sinking pretty 

 deep, he at length came up; ■and, raising his 

 head above the surface of the water, he gravely 

 observed — " It is expected, gentlemen, that you 

 will hand me a rope." 



NOTICE. 



All the numbers of this Journal are in print ; and 

 may be had from No. I. inclusive, price 3d. each. Also, 

 Parts 1 to 10, price Is. Id. each; post-free. Is. 4d. 



As due notice was given to our Subscribers, early in 

 June last, to complete their Sets without delay, it is 

 hoped they have done so, as the Stock is now made up 

 into Sets, and very few " odd " numbers are on hand. 

 The price of the first two Quarterly, and the first Half- 

 yearly Volumes, will remain as before— until December 



26th. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Aviary and its Occupants will be continued hi 

 our next. 



Communications Received. — Forestiera. — Fanny A. — 

 Leonora. — Verax. — Bombyx Atlas. — Robert S. 

 writes us, with glee, that he has found an "honest 

 bookseller," who supplies Our Journal to him regularly. 

 Our correspondent has not given his own name in full, 

 nor the name of the bookseller ; neither has he stated 

 the name of the place whence he writes. The post mark, 

 as usual, is a mere daub, illegible. How we should 

 delight else, in recording the name and address of the 

 bookseller ; aye, in letters six inches deep !— Amelia('.'). 

 The proper food for Thrushes has been repeatedly 

 named in the Journal. German paste and bun, bread 

 and butter, snails, a morsel of cheese, and a meal- 

 worm now and then, will keep your bird hearty.— J. 

 C. E. You are a Trojan.— T. D. W. See answer to 

 J. C. E. 



To Correspondents.— As we always print one number 

 of the Journal in advance, such of our Correspondents 

 as may not receive replies to their questions in the cur- 

 rent number, must bear in mind that they are not for- 

 gotten. We pay marked attention to all favors. 



KIDB'S OWN JOUENAL. 

 Saturday, November 6, 1852. 



The eapid revolution of the wheels 

 of time has again reduced the year of our 

 Lord, 1852. Only two short months now 

 remain — we are in the first week of No- 

 vember. 



We shall speak but the truth, when we 

 say that we have parted from October with 

 regret. It has been to us a month pregnant 

 with very considerable enjoyment. H° w 

 many very beautiful days did it not number 

 in its train ! How charming the scenery 

 in the woods, parks, fields, and forests, 

 during the entire period. Up to the very 

 last day, the trees in many neighborhoods 

 were richly clad in the most beautiful varie- 

 gated garments, and the whole face of 

 Nature was indescribably lovely. 



To mount the hills at this season, and 

 look down upon the scene below, is our 

 delight. The sun, now bright, anon becomes 

 obscured with a partial mist. Distant ob- 

 jects are thereby veiled in some obscurity; 

 so that the imagination gazes upon a scene 

 of majestic grandeur, heightened in no small 

 degree by the tops of the lofty trees, which 

 are indistinctly visible in the remote dis- 

 tance. When the sun again peeps forth, 

 and the mist gradually disperses, a vista 

 presents itself that no pen can attempt to 

 describe. We have revelled in these delights 

 all through the month of October ; and, we 



