408 



TCIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



OTICE. 



Kidd's Popular Treatises on British Song and 

 Cage-Birds, The Aviary, Domestic Pets, and Natu- 

 ral History Generally, can only be procured in 

 this Journal, of which Volumes I. and II., price 8s., 

 each, handsomely bound, are just ready. 



The Work, for the convenience of purchasers, is also 

 ssued in Quarterly Volumes, at 4s. 6d., each; 

 lettered respectively, 



Spring, — Summer, — Autumn, — Winter. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Phrenology for the Million, and the Aviary and 

 it5 Occupants, will be continued in our next. 



Communications Received.— Bombyx Atlas.— Ebor, 

 Hayes. In our next.— II. H.— F. G.— T. D. W— J. E. 

 L. M.— Hand-in-Hand Canary Show. See page 413. 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 

 Saturday, December 25, 1852. 



As THIS IS THE LAST SATURDAY in the 



Year of Our Lord, 1852, and as our Second 

 Volume is this day completed, — a few 

 valedictory words from our Editorial pen 

 will perhaps be looked for. 



We believe the bulk of our readers are 

 fully prepared to hear, that our labors have 

 now altogether terminated; and that the 

 Journal will, from to-day, cease to exist. 

 It is no more than natural that this should 

 be the general impression, as the Public 

 receive their Papers so irregularly. 



When we state that we have lost by the 

 speculation a sum of money exceeding £500, 

 — all within a twelvemonth ; and that our 

 own time and labor have been sacrificed 

 IN addition, — we think we are entitled to 

 " a Kule, to show cause" why some little 

 change should not be made in the state of 

 affairs.* 



We have taken up our pen about a dozen 

 times, — and have thrown it down again as 

 often, to say " Farewell !" to our readers. 

 That word, however, half chokes us. We 

 cannot utter it. We find our very life is 

 bound up in the leaves of Our Journal. 

 If it were to die, we should die too. Plow 

 then can its life be prolonged? "Aye, 

 there's the rub !" 



* It may naturally be asked, what benefit have 

 "we incidentally derived from this? We answer — 

 an extent of fame, and a year's experience. We 

 leant heavily, in the first instance, upon the aid 

 of our brethren, the booksellers. They however 

 tell us, " they hate our principles;" and they long 

 since deserted us. This is " experience." Our 

 good name, however, still abides. This is our 

 capital, and our stock in trade. Many have 

 begun the world under much worse auspices. — 

 Ed. K. J. 



On this subject, we have had many, — 

 many anxious debates ; and held arguments 

 innumerable with those who dearly love the 

 Journal. To repeat these, formally, would 

 be useless. Suffice it, that at the very last 

 hour we have been prevailed upon to make 

 one more venture. 



To go on as we have been going on up to 

 this time, would be an act of madness. 

 Energy is good ; but Prudence must hold the 

 reins. Her ladyship has pulled up. She 

 will go no further. Some have said — " be 

 patient." We have established ourself in 

 this matter, as second only to Job. Sir 

 Walter Scott, remarks : — " Patience is a 

 quiet nag ; nevertheless she will bolt." She 

 has bolted. But to the point. 



It has been suggested and carried nem. 

 con., that with the New Year the weekly 

 issue of the Journal shall cease ; and that 

 the Work shall be at once converted into 

 an Eighteen-penny Monthly Magazine, — the 

 first part to be published on the first of 

 February, 1853. It will then be written 

 for by the country booksellers, and it 

 will be forwarded in their monthly parcels 

 with the other serials. Thus alone can we 

 stem the unceasing and overwhelming at- 

 tempts of "the Trade" to seal the ruin of 

 our Journal.* 



In making this new attempt to prolong our 

 literary life, and in assenting to the pro- 

 posed change,we feel quite a free agent. We 

 are "taking advantage" of nobody. All 

 our promises given, have been most honor- 

 ably performed. We have no fear of any 

 charge being brought against us of a breach 

 of faith. We meet from to day on entirely 

 new ground. 



Our contempt for money, — as money, is 

 supreme. All we want is, sufficient to de- 

 fray the actual expenses attendant upon the 

 publication of the Journal ; and to find (at 

 a distant period) a trifling surplus, to assist 

 in keeping a family joint suspended in the 

 larder. This is the extent of our hopes, — 

 the ne plus ultra of our very moderate desires. 



Our life, — like the life of a distinguished 

 physician, is a pleasant one for the most part. 

 Our profession brings us into daily contact 

 with many delightful — many interesting" pa- 

 tients." They talk to us, and they write to 

 us. Their communications are "privileged," 

 — of course. They consult us. We pre- 

 scribe for them. The physician, however, is 

 not altogether so happy as we are. When 

 he has had his say, his hand grows sadly rest- 



* Our weekly purchasers, who now receive 

 their copies by post, at an extra cost of 2d. each, 

 will be gainers by the change. A monthly part 

 can be franked by post for sixpence. Indeed, as 

 many as three parts would come free at the 

 same cost. — Ed. K. J. 



