168 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



Dame Nature have never had their better 

 judgment warped by the sophistry of the ad- 

 vocates of fashion, nor their vanity punished 

 by deformity. Not a single pair of stays, 

 nor any thing resembling them, did I see 

 during my wanderings in that uncivilised 

 part of the globe. 



Oh, it makes an honest man's heart ache 

 to see his fellow-creatures cheated out of 

 their birthright by the intrigues of fashion. 

 Can there be a sight in all nature more sad 

 and melancholy, than to behold the beau- 

 teous female form sinking gradually into the 

 tomb, through the indiscreet application of 

 ligature to those parts which Providence had 

 formed so true in their proportions, and of 

 such charming symmetry ? That fine black 

 eye, expressive of a noble soul within, has 

 lost its wonted brightness ; those feet no 

 longer move with firmness; the frame can 

 barely keep from drooping. In a few weeks 

 more, a close confinement to the bedroom 

 will shut out the last sweet carol of the 

 nightingale and lark. 



" That face, alas! no more is fair; 

 Those lips have lost their red ; 

 Those cheeks no longer roses bear, 

 And every charm is fled." 



Charles Waterton. 



[There is more sound sense, freely and 

 honestly expressed, in this short Paper, 

 than is usually found in a dozen octavo 

 volumes. When toill men and women begin 

 to try to learn to be wise ?] 



SLEEP. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Sweet the repose of him whose breast 

 Is by no cank'ring grief oppress'd, 



Or guilty dread ; 

 Who can, while sleep the eyelid closes, 

 Sweetly press his bed of roses, 



By fancy fed! 



Who dreams of happy years to come, 

 Reckless of untimely tomb, 



Or woe-fraught hours ; 

 Who sees gay Summer's laughing ray 

 Usher in the perfumed day, 



And cull its flowers ! 



Of him, alas ! how sad the sleep, 

 Who's made the hapless orphan weep, 



Or widow sigh ; 

 When Conscience bids before him stand, 

 Attended by a demon band, 



Eternity ! 



To whose sad agonising fears, 

 Outraged Justice then appears, 



With iron rod ; 

 Before whose terror-frenzied eye 

 Upstands, in dreadful Majesty, 



Offended God ! L. L. L. 



J. T. W.— It is a Hen bird. Let it fly early in May. It 

 will very soon find a mate, if taken a few miles from 

 London. 



S. Cookson. — Send your address. 



J. H. Your note has been forwarded to " W. J. L.," as 

 requested. 



F. C. Thanks ; the information about the injured 

 Robin will be useful on a future occasion. 



A. H. — 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 no^ 

 be " accepted," are requested to preserve copies of 

 them, as tbe 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 JOUENAL. 

 Saturday, March 13, 1852. 



Our Journal is now forcing itself into 

 notoriety, in spite of the apathy and opposi- 

 tion of those worthy gentlemen booksellers 

 who ought to have been first and foremost 

 in assisting it from its birth. They viewed 

 it at the onset, with suspicion ; next with 

 contempt ; then with doubt ; anon with sur- 

 prise, — now with admiration ! At last, they 

 confess it is "a meritorious Paper." Clear- 

 sighted are they all, — very ! 



Let us now address one or two ob- 

 servations to our good friends, the pub- 

 lic. The subjects we have recently in- 

 troduced in our Journal are, it is 

 acknowledged, of universal interest. In- 

 stead then of our Paper being lent for 

 perusal from one family to another, let each 

 well-wisher purchase a copy for himself. The 

 cost is trifling to an individual, but the 

 result to us will be grand. Thus sup- 

 ported, our Journal will flourish and our 

 anxiety for its success will cease. 



Hitherto it has been kept up by a heavy 

 outlay of money, and unceasing activity, — 

 for, as we said weeks ago, we must either 

 "conquer or die." It has been a severe 



