136 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



E. R. M.— As you are a lady, we shall not presume, nor 

 do we wish, to contradict you; your "reasonable" 

 favor shall appear next week. Again, no address! 

 still we thank you. 



"Bombyx Atlas."- Will you oblige us with your name 

 and address? When these are withholden, we feel 

 " quite at sea." We want to write to you, but can't! 



F. M.— Our space is so circumscribed, that "Fugitive 

 Poetry" can only be admissible under very peculiar 

 circumstances. We are already overwhelmed with 

 similar "kind offerings." This "reply" will suffice 

 for all the writers. Their favors have merit, and 

 would be readily available in a Monthly Magazine. 



New Subscribers, and Casual Readers, are referred to 

 the Leading Article in our First Number for the 

 detailed objects of the London Journal: to these 

 we shall rigidly adhere. 



Private Letters. — Of these we daily receive such 

 immense quantities, that we must really beg the 

 writers to excuse our not replying to them. Our time 

 is more profitably occupied. All vacancies, as they are 

 called, are filled up. Let this general answer suffice. 



Correspondents sending in any " facts" connected with 

 Science or Natural History, are requested in every 

 case to append their names and places of abode. In no 

 instance, however, will their names be published with- 

 out their express sanction. 



Notice to Subscribers and Others.— It having been 

 deemed expedient, to meet the views of the Trade, that 

 this Journal should always be published by anticipa- 

 tion, Contributors and others will be so kind as to 

 bear in mind that they must give us an extra " week's 

 grace," and wait patiently till their favors appear. 



All persons who may send in MSS., but which may not 

 be " accepted," are requested to preserve copies of 

 them, as the Editor cannot hold himself responsible 

 for their return. 



To obtain this Paper without any difficulty, our readers 

 need only order it to be sent to them by any of their 

 local Booksellers or Newsvendors. It is published 

 simultaneously with all the other weekly periodicals. 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 

 Saturday, February 28, 1852. 



Just in proportion as our Paper is 

 winning its way into the fairest repute, as 

 witness the vast number of Communications 

 received from all parts daily, — are the Book- 

 sellers doing everything in their power to 

 keep it from rising ! The same difficulty of 

 obtaining it, still exists. The same apathy 

 and indifference continue everywhere ob- 

 servable ; and no helping hand can we seek 

 that is able to pull us through the difficulty, 

 although our private friends strive mightily 

 in our cause. The Booksellers will not 

 keep an extra copy on hand. 



Let us merely cite one single instance, 

 which will tell more of a Bookseller's supine- 

 ness than anything else. A gentleman 

 writes us from MANCHESTER, a few days 

 since, as follows : — 



Sir, — The Liverpudlians, whom you have so 

 justly tomahawked, are by no means " alone in 

 their glory" with respect to the '' burkc"-iug 

 of your Journal. I have contrived to get Nos, 3 

 and 4; they came together! and finally, No. 5, 

 last Monday ! ! ! My bookseller thought, before 

 it came, it must have been discontinued, — a 

 horrid " doubt" for us your admirers. I declare 

 it nearly froze my heart's blood. 



This is one of a multitude of Letters^ all 

 on one and the same subject. We feel jus- 

 tified in speaking thus plainly, in order that 

 our friends may see how we are situated. 



There is a large demand; but although 

 our terms are most liberal, there is, com- 

 pared with what there should be, a very 

 small sale — arising solely from the cause 

 above assigned. 



We have made one more effort, as will be 

 seen by reference to the last column of the 

 present Journal. If this fail, we have 

 done all we can do under such unfairly- de- 

 pressing circumstances— and " May Heaven 

 defend the right /" 



" Every man has a right to do what he 

 likes with ' his own ; ' " said the late worthy 

 Duke of Newcastle. Who will gainsay it ? 



Acting on the principle, we have made 

 this Journal more our own than ever it 

 was. By referring to the First Page of the 

 present Number, it. will be seen that our 

 patronymic is a "vexed question" no 

 longer. It is now Kidd's " Own " Journal ; 

 and there exists a joint partnership between 

 it and the Public 



ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



Sagacity of a Jackdaw.—' 1 Our Jackdaw " 

 has taken it into his head, that he would like to 

 see his name in print; at least so I fancied 

 when I saw him ogling with an envious eye 

 something at page 87 of your Journal, con- 

 cerning "A Raven." Perhaps I might first 

 have thought I should like to see his name in 

 print— and he read my thoughts? Be that as it 

 may (though I believe I am right in my belief), 

 I am perfectly convinced that it will in the end 

 amount to the same thing. When our eyes first 

 met, it was at a grocer's shop, in " Our Street." 

 " Jack " took my fancy and I took his. After 

 passing him several times on my way to town, 

 I at last determined to possess him. No sooner 

 said than done. When removing him from his 

 old master, I received his assurance that " Jack " 

 called " Shop," Avhich latter assertion I regard 

 as a fiction, never having heard him ejaculate 

 that word. Prom the very first moment of his 

 installation in his new home, he evinced a most 

 startling affection for the juicy legs of a member of 

 the family,— viz. those of my little sister. This 

 particular member he assails to the present day ; at 

 the same time taking care to keep at a respect- 

 ful distance, and looking just for all the world 

 as if such a propensity had never entered^ his 

 imagination,— for I believe he has imagina- 

 tion. If you should ever chance to be in his 

 company, prav discard the use of slippers; for 

 should he descry even the smallest possible piece 

 of stocking, he will attack that point, knowing it 

 to be the tender one ; a thing which he would 

 never attempt if you had on boots. Well does his 

 eye know the difference between cotton and 

 leather! Pie is extremely affectionate, as will 

 be seen from the following circumstance. Find- 



