A LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND INSTRUCTIVE FAMILY PAPER. 



Conducted by WILLIAM KIDD, of Hammersmith,— 



Author of the Familiar and Popular Essa.ys on "Natural History;" "British Song 

 Birds;" " Birds op Passage ;"" Instinct and Reason ; " . 

 " The Aviary and its Occupants," &c. 



"the OBJECT op our work is to make men WISER, WITHOUT obliging them to turn over folios AND 



QUARTOS.— TO FURNISH MATTER FOR THINKING, AS WELL AS READING."— EVELYN. 



No. 1.— 1852. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 3. 



Price l%d. 



Or, in Monthly Parts, Price 7c?. 



THE EDITOR TO HIS FBIENBS. 



It is now several years since we last 

 chatted with some ten thousand of our good 

 and well-tried friends, the Public, in the 

 character of a " London Journalist." We 

 have, nevertheless, been conversing with 

 them from time to time, in other channels, 

 though not (in all of them) avowedly under 

 our signature proper.* We trust, nay firmly 

 believe, we may now number in our train 

 "another ten thousand." This would be 

 "protective." May our " faith " prove the 

 substance of what we " hope " for ! 



Since the termination of the last Volume 

 of our " London Journal," — when, it will be 

 remembered, severe illness caused us to lay 

 aside our pen — a new era has sprung up. 

 Habits have altered; Fashions have altered 

 — on which subject we purpose anon to be 

 eloquent ; Manners have altered. Whether 

 the change in some, or all of these, be for 

 the better, we shall presently inquire. 



A variety of circumstances, on which it is 

 unnecessary to dwell here, have prevented 

 until now, our re-appearance before the Public 

 in the first person singular ; nor should we 

 now, perhaps, have made such a venture, 

 had it not been to a certain extent " forced" 

 upon us. We have however received such 

 kind, such pressing solicitations from all 

 quarters to renew the suspended intimacy, 

 that we see no alternative but to let the 

 New Year be the signal for the reunion. We 

 have thought it advisable to retain the ori- 

 ginal Title of " Kidd's London Journal," 

 inasmuch as, by it, we formerly became so 

 extensively known. We may remark, en 

 passant, that Six goodly tomes of our " Lon- 

 don Journal " are already before the public ; 



* We are at present engaged in furnishing to the 

 " Gardeners' Chronicle" Newspaper, a long and in- 

 teresting Series of Articles on " British Song Birds." 

 Of these, Sixty Chapters ' have already appeared, and 

 the subject will be continued Weekly' (with our name 

 attached), until completed. 



which " speak volumes," as they were bound 

 to do, of our handiwork. It is pleasing to 

 find, on diligent inquiry made among the 

 Booksellers, that out of so very many hun- 

 dreds issued by us, not a single copy of them 

 can now be obtained at any price. 



It will be readily surmised, and as fully 

 expected, that Natural History, and the 

 Habits of Animals, will be our principal 

 matters for consideration — including of course 

 Observations on Poultry, Bees, Dogs, In- 

 sects, Flowers, Fish, the Cultivation of 

 Gardens, &c, &c. ; indeed all those Ele- 

 gancies, Refinements, and Utilities of life, 

 which have now happily become so attrac- 

 tive and so popular. " Correspondence " on 

 these and similar subjects we earnestly covet. 



Au reste ; we can hardly do better than 

 transcribe, almost literally, the Prefatory 

 Remarks which appeared in a former Vo- 

 lume : — • 



" Our object," as we then recorded, "is to 

 render our Paper Amusing as well as In- 

 structive, and to introduce Science in a popu- 

 lar and pleasing form; presenting our readers 

 with choice extracts from every work 

 OP merit, new or old, that may come under 

 our observation — not confining ourselves 

 to any limited or particular subjects, but 

 introducing all in turn. Also, to perpetuate 

 in our columns the essence OP every thing 

 that is good — Instruction and Entertain- 

 ment being rendered inseparable friends, 

 and Morality keeping her foot firmly fixed 

 upon the neck of Vice. 



" Not a topic of any public interest 

 (Politics alone excepted), shall escape our 

 observation, without being commented on ; 

 neither shall any public grievance exist, 

 without our voice and pen being cheerfully 

 and vigorously raised to assist in putting it 

 down. We name this here, in order that it 

 may form a legitimate feature in our Paper 

 when needful. 



" One great object with us will be, to ga- 

 ther up in a manner peculiarly our own, 



Vol. I.— New Series. 



