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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



toned up their pockets ; and cries of 

 " Smoked!"—" Won't do !"— " Too hot to 

 hold him !" with similar equally mysterious 

 ejaculations, saluted my ears from all 

 quarters, as perplexed, irritated and dis- 

 gusted, I forced my way through the 

 crowd. 



I once more found myself in the open air, 

 and the night-chill fell gratefully on my 

 feverish brow. " Why are these things ?" 

 thought I ; and as my indignation abated, 

 the sickness of heart and sense of forlorn- 

 ness, which in moments of misfortune fall 

 upon the wanderer in a foreign land, came 

 over me. Wearied in mind and body, I 

 proceeded to make the best of my way 

 toward my lodgings, determined to forget 

 in sleep the troubles and vexations of the 

 day, when, in passing the end of a street, 

 the cry of a young female struck upon my 

 ear. This at once aroused me, and I has- 

 tened to the spot, where I found a girl 

 struggling with a coxcombically - dressed 

 fellow in a state of intoxication. I, of 

 course, ordered him to desist ; he refused. 

 A struggle ensued — a crowd assembled, and 

 just as I was on the point of overpowering 

 my antagonist, I was rudely seized by the 

 collar by two men, who said I must go 

 before a magistrate for creating a disturb- 

 ance. I immediately explained, that it was 

 not I who was in the wrong ; that I was 

 " merely doing what every man with the 

 common feeling of his nature must have 

 done under the circumstances — assisting a 

 helpless and unprotected woman." Upon 

 which, one of the men laid his finger on one 

 side of his nose and gave a peculiar whistle, 

 and the other burst into a coarse laugh, and 

 exclaimed, " Precious blarney !" I then 

 demanded to be taken before the magistrate, 

 feeling assured that I should receive the 

 thanks of the gentleman rather than punish- 

 ment, when I explained how I had acted. 

 The magistrate, however, would not allow 

 me to speak, but said that my " disgraceful 

 and ruffianly appearance was sufficient to 

 justify the officers in what they had done ;" 

 and concluded to my utter astonishment, by 

 ordering me to be taken to prison. " Dis- 

 graceful and ruffianly appearance !" How 

 was this ? Was I, indeed, myself, or some 

 one else ? Surely some extraordinary trans- 

 formation must have taken place in my 

 outward man, or surely this was most inap- 

 propriate language to address to a gentleman 

 with the "finest nose in Hamburgh;" and, as 

 my aunt used partially to add, " a face to 

 correspond." But I had little time for 

 meditation or reflection, for I was imme- 

 diately dragged like a criminal through the 

 streets toward the prison. I had entertained 

 a high opinion of the jurisprudence of 

 England, and a feeling of admiration towards 



her laws and institutions, which amounted 

 almost to reverence ; but surely, thought I, 

 this is not justice; and whatever physical 

 obstacles might intervene, I felt there was 

 no moral tie to prevent me from breaking 

 from the officers the first opportunity. 

 Accordingly, in turning a corner, by a sud- 

 den jerk I succeeded in freeing myself from 

 their grasp — knocked down the one who 

 endeavored to regain his hold — and amid 

 shouts of " Stop thief !" the barking of dogs, 

 and the loud cries of men, women and chil- 

 dren, managed, after many a devious turn, 

 to elude pursuit and reach my lodgings. 



Spent and breathless, I threw myself into 

 a chair. My landlady stood gazing upon 

 me, apparently deprived of utterance by the 

 excess of her amazement. In order to 

 appease the good woman's anxious curiosity, 

 I collected my remaining faculties, and de- 

 tailed to her, as briefly as possible, the 

 fatigues, insults, vexations, and persecutions 

 I had undergone in the course of the ill- 

 fated clay, expecting, as a matter of course, 

 a large return of wonder and sorrowful sym- 

 pathy. To my utter astonishment, however, 

 my narrative appeared to create very little 

 surprise ; but gazing at me more intently 

 than ever, my landlady set down the candle, 

 lifted up her hands, and exclaimed, " Why 

 la, Sir! what else could you expect? You 



HAVE BEEN OUT ALL DAY WITH YOUR OLD 

 COAT ON !" 



Instantly, and for the first time, I looked 

 at the sleeves. It Avas even so. The mys- 

 tery was solved — the truth revealed. An 

 old black coat — old when I went on ship- 

 board, and which had been worn, torn, and 

 soiled on the passage, until it had sunk one 

 hundred degrees below respectability — had 

 been brought on shore and laid in my bed- 

 room by an over-careful German servant. 

 On this eventful morning I had, somehow 

 or other, found my way into it ; and, deeply 

 immersed in the Kantian system until a 

 late hour, had, without further thought, 

 started up and proceeded to pay my visits 

 with this piece of sin and degradation on my 

 back ! It was plain now why I was a 

 scoundrel, a vagabond, and a suspected 

 pickpocket. I said not a word, but wishing 

 my landlady a good night, went to bed and 

 slept. 



When I awoke the next morning, there 

 hung the coat ! My determination on the pre- 

 ceding evening had been to have it 

 destroyed — burnt — rent into fragments, and 

 scattered to the winds of heaven ! but 

 " A sadder and a wiser man, 

 I rose the morrow morn." 



" Welcome, old friend !" said I, as I took 

 it up ; " I have seen deeper into the heart of 

 things — I have learned more of the myste- 

 ries of civilisation and of men and men's 



