12 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



the centre of the floor, which had been 

 gnawed through an immensely thick pro- 

 tective piece of wood ; and on counting the 

 number of inmates, I found them just eleven ! 

 To remove these, and in a fit of desperation 

 to convert their late habitation into a green- 

 house, was f he work of a short half hour ; 

 and thus, " my tale is told." 



" The cunning of these rats has been im- 

 mense. They must have carried on their 

 operations of gnawing, while mounted one 

 on the back of another (a system of theirs I 

 have before now heard of) ; for the flooring 

 is laid on wooden sleepers, and the distance 

 from the ground below to the flooring 

 above, is at least eight inches. To exter- 

 minate these monsters is my full determi- 

 nation, and I shall anxiously look for in- 

 structions from you as to my best mode 

 of procedure ; the more especially, when I 

 add that I have in the immediate vicinity 

 of the aviary nearly 100 head of poultry, 

 many of them the choicest gold- spangled 

 bantam breed of the late Sir John Sebright, 

 and the finest specimens of the gold-spangled 

 Hamburgh. I am told by a knowing neigh- 

 bour, by way of comfort, that I may fully 

 expect some morning to find the entrails 

 of some of these torn out by the rats. 

 What a lovely prospect ! Wm. Kidd, 

 Sanders' 1 Cottage, New Road, Hammer- 

 smith, Jan. 1, 1850." 



"Pickings up and Bettings Down." 



Distinguished Men always Hard-workers. 

 —When we read the lives of distinguished men 

 in any department, we find them almost always 

 celebrated for the amount of labour they could 

 perform. Demosthenes, Julius Cassar, Henry 

 the Fourth of France, Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac 

 NeAvton, Franklin, Washington, Napoleon — 

 different as they were in their intellectual and 

 moral qualities — were all renowned as hard- 

 workers. We read how many days they could 

 support the fatigues of a march ; how early they 

 rose ; how late they watched ; how manj 7 hours 

 they spent in the field, in the cabinet, in the 

 court ; how many secretaries they kept employed ; 

 in short, how hard they worked. All this power 

 arises from energy, and a mind well directed. 

 Patience and perseverance would cause the word 

 " impossibility," to be expunged from our modern 

 dictionaries ; the sooner the better, say we. 



'*Not" so bad, either! — Methinks to kiss 

 ladies' hands after their lips, as some do, is like 

 little boys, who, after they eat the apple, fall 

 to the paring, out of the love they have to the 

 apple. — Selden. 



Wit.— Wit I consider as a singular and un- 

 avoidable manner of doing or saying anything, 

 peculiar and natural to one man only, by which 

 his speech and actions are distinguished from 

 those of other men. — Congreve. 



Reflections tor the New Year.— At a 

 season when all is cheerless without, and some 



have very little cheer within, we have pleasure 

 in " dotting down" a few remarks from the 

 elegant pen of that very choice, feeling poet, 

 Charles Swain. We should like to have the 

 honour of his acquaintance. The lines 

 entitled : — 



Forget not the Unhappy. 



are 



Forget not the unhappy 



Amid the bright and gay, 

 The world can give you nothing 



It will not take away ; 

 Make much, then, of the moments 



Ye never can renew, 

 And forget not the unhappy, 



For oh, their friends are few ! 



Their friends are few, and faintly 



They whisper comfort now ; 

 And offer scant assistance, 



With cold and cautious brow: 

 Each minute they are gazing 



Upon their watch to go ; 

 Oh, forget not the unhappy, 



For kindness cometh slow ! 



Forget not the unhappy ; 



Though sorrow may annoy, 

 There's something then for memory 



Hereafter to enjoy! 

 Oh, still from Fortune's garland 



Some flowers for others strew ; 

 And forget not the unhappy, 



For oh ! their eriends are few. 



If people only knew once the happiness en- 

 joyed from doing a kind, brotherly action, bring- 

 ing with it its oivn rich reward, — Oh ! what a 

 happy nation would ours be ! Try it. 



POETRY, 



Our Own Fireside. 



Domas etplacens uxor. — Hor 



Who by sad fate relentless taught 



Thro' distant climes to roam, 

 That has not sigh'd when memory sought 



To tell the joys of home? 

 There's holy music in that sound, 



A source ol graceful pride; 

 There's a heavenly charm that hovers round 



Our own bright fireside. 



Cares may distract, and sorrow's sting 



May vex the anxious breast ; 

 Still there's a spot to which we cling — 



One where we hope to rest. 

 Yes ! altho' tempest toss'd we sail] 



O'er life's eventful tide, 

 There's one sure port will never fail -— 



Our own bright fireside. 



When round the hearth with fond delight 



The joyous faces smile, 

 And friendship sheds its holy light 



All sorrows to beguile ; 

 'Tis then we feel that though on earth 



Some blessings be denied, 

 There's one — 'tis sure of heavenly birth — 



Our own bright fireside ! 



