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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



In fact, the cheerfulness of an author's style is 

 always but a doubtful indication of the serenity 

 of his heart. An author is an abstract creation 

 — " alter etidem," a living puzzle to himself, to 

 his friends, and to all his acquaintance. 



Female Loveliness. — Female loveliness never 

 appears to so good advantage as when set off 

 with simplicity of dress. No artist ever decked 

 his angels with towering feathers and gaudy jew- 

 ellery, and our human angels, if they would 

 make good their title to that name, should care- 

 fully avoid ornaments which properly belong to 

 Indians and African princesses. These tinselries 

 may serve to give effect on the stage or upon a 

 ball-room floor, but in daily life there is no sub- 

 stitute for the charms of simplicity. A vulgar 

 taste is not to be disguised by gold and diamonds. 



"Loveliness 



Needs not the foreign aid of ornament, 

 But is, when unadorned, adorned the most." 



So think we — not so, the million! 



How to break off a Bad Habit. — The 

 late Mr. Loudon, the celebrated writer on gar- 

 dening, &c, during the time he was suffering so 

 severely from the pain in his arm, found no ease 

 but from taking laudanum ; and he became at 

 last so habituated to the use of this noxious po- 

 tion, that he took a wine-glassful every eight 

 hours. After the amputation of his arm, how- 

 ever, he wished to leave off taking it, as he was 

 aware of its injurious effects upon his general 

 health; and he contrived to cure himself by 

 putting a wine- glassful of cold water into his quart 

 bottle of laudanum every time he took out a 

 wine-glassful of the potion, so that the mixture 

 became gradually weaker every day, till at last it 

 was little more than water ; and he found that he 

 had cured himself of this dangerous habit, with- 

 out experiencing any inconvenience. — Ergo; cold 

 water is the real panacea for nearly " all the ills 

 that flesh is heir to." Thus much is certain; if 

 a trial were made of it, our doctors' bills would 

 soon grow " small by degrees, and beautifully 

 less ! " We shall be happy to publish " authen- 

 ticated cases " in our London Journal. 



"Facts" v. Fiction in Natural History. — 

 There could not perhaps be a more fitting season 

 than the present for us to enter our strongest 

 protest against the excessive " tales of "Wonder 

 and Imagination," connected with animals, that 

 from time to time find their way into print, to 

 the great and serious detriment of science and 

 truth. Let it ever be borne in mind, that even 

 truth itself becomes positive falsehood, if it be 

 presented in any other than its right relations. 

 There can be no truth but the whole truth ! 

 Whatever is recorded contrary to the law of na- 

 ture in any animal, and impossible to be traced 

 to any sound principle connected therewith, must 

 be regarded as apocryphal. It is just as imprac- 

 ticable for us to become acquainted with a per- 

 fect knowledge of animals, from popular and 

 highly-coloured anecdotes and stories, as it would 

 be to obtain an insight into human nature from 

 the lavish outpourings of friendly partiality and 

 parental fondness. A firm conviction of this 

 truth always induces me to relate nothing but 



what I can corroborate — none but literal facts, — ■ 

 Kidd's Essays on Instinct and Reason. 



A Sober Reflection for 1851-52. 



Watching the clear sky on a summer's evening, 

 and the bright stars which glitter on its face and 

 dart their radiance around, whilst the earth smiles 

 in their presence, we fancy that we may rejoice 

 in such enchantments for ever; but alas! in a few 

 brief moments, darkening clouds arise, and sweep 

 across our firmament. One by one the beaming- 

 orbs disappear, and the horizon, sparkling no 

 longer, is enveloped in a dreary expanse of cheer- 

 less gloom. So it is in the social system, For 

 awhile the brilliant lights of its sphere shed their 

 halo around, and all is glowing and dazzling 

 where they shine. The gleams of imagination 

 and the flashes of intellect illumine the scene, 

 and we fondly hope that the fleet pleasure will 

 be immortal ; but the glories fade away, and the 

 shadows of death gradually wrap the whole in 

 oblivion. The stars will shine again from the 

 heavens, and our own and others' eyes will again 

 and again behold them ; but there is no returning 

 for the friends we have loved and lost — there is 

 no rekindling of the luminaries, and sometimes 

 the meteors, of our brief existence, who have 

 cheered its thorniest paths, and adorned its very 

 sterility with the lustre of their gladsome influ- 

 ence. The feast of reason is concluded, the flow of 

 soul is o'er ! 



Landscape Scenery. 



No landscape, however admirable in other 

 respects, is complete without " motion." We 

 who are lovers of nature in all its beauties, 

 gently insist on this. The swan must glide 

 along the river ; the eagle wheel among the crags; 

 the goat must bound among the precipices ; the 

 herds and flocks graze in irregular groups along 

 the valley. For this reason it is, that the poets 

 never fail to animate their ideal landscapes with 

 some interesting associations which imply "mo- 

 tion " — such as the waving of woods, the falling 

 of waters, and the flight of birds. We cannot to 

 day, offer "examples" of this, although our 

 mind is full of them. In the motion of landscape, 

 what can be more agreeable than the waving of 

 corn or trees, the calm gliding or the fierce rush- 

 ing of rivers, the rising of columns of smoke, the 

 unpremeditated motion of animals? Let us add 

 to these, the majestic movements of the clouds 

 marching before a storm, or gliding in stupendous 

 masses along the vast expanse of the horizon ! 



Influence of " a Fog" upon a Landscape. 

 — The most long-lived plants are not those which 

 grow the fastest. So it is with friendship — that 

 is commonly the most firm and durable, which 

 grows up but slowly ; while that which, is hastily 

 contracted is most liable to be dissolved. 



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