KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

o15 

tells us still further, that, in the magnificent 
system of his government, there exists no evil ; 
that the appearances, which to our limited and 
temporary view seemed pregnant with destruction, 
are, in the mighty extent of his providence, the 
source of returning good; and that, in the very 
hours when we might conceive nature to be de- 
serted and forlorn, the Spirit of the Almighty 1s 
operating with unceasing force, and preparing in 
silence the renovation of the world.— HEARTSEASE, 
Hants. 

The Misseltoe-—-My attention was recently 
directed to this plant; and the thought struck me 
that it would be highly desirable to find out some 
plan by which it might be successfully cultivated. 
Apart from its interesting historical associations, 
as the sacred plant of the Druids, it is in itself 
eminently worthy of notice, as being one of the 
very few parasitical plants found wild in this 
country. Its wild habitats are evidently decreas- 
ing in number ; and, unless there be devised some 
efficient means for its culture, I fear we are in 
danger of losing by degrees to a very great extent, 
if not entirely, one of the most interesting of our 
native plants. On looking over the Gardeners’ 
Magazine, for 1835, I met with some remarks 
bearing upon this subject, which I thought would 
be worth transcribing. They are from the pen of 
of Mr. D. Beaton. Mr. B. says :—‘* Mr. Moss 
has hit upon an excellent plan for the successful 
propagation of the Misseltoe for sale; which is, 
getting young shoots of apple and pear-trees on 
which the Misseltoe is established, and grafting 
them in his nursery. I think the first or second 
week in May is the best time to graft shoots of 
the Misseltoe. Budding and grafting the Missel- 
toe is very simple ; merely an incision in the bark, 
into which a thin slice of misseltoe is inserted, 
having a bud and one leaf at the end. Grafts less 
than half an inch in diameter may be put in, in 
the same manner ; but in grafting larger pieces, a 
notch should be cut out of the branch, the incision 
made below the notch, and a shoulder left on the 
graft to rest on the notch, in the manner of crown 
grafting. All that the nurserymen have to do is, 
—to insert small scions in the largest shoots of 
their apple and pear standards. About the middle 
of May is the best time to bud the Misseltoe. The 
budding is only a modification of grafting; as 
you retain a heel of wood below the bud for inser- 
tion.”—Artuur G. 

Innocence of Childhood—All who know you, 
my dear sir, know the bent of your “natural ”’ 
disposition. Nor is it any secret how much you 
love children. I quite enjoy a perusal of your re- 
marks as to the manner in which they should be 
brought up; foralas, what “oddities” some of them 
are now! I send you, taken from your own 
‘“‘ Fanny Fern,” the following beautiful morceau, 
apropos of “innocence.”—‘“‘ I asked God to take 
care of Johnny, and then I went to sleep,” said a 
little boy giving an account of his wandering in 
the wood. How sublime! how touching! Holy 
childhood! Let me sit at thy feet, and learn of 
thee. How dost thou rebuke me with thy simple 
faith and earnest love! Oh earth !—what dost 
thou give us in exchange for its loss?—Rainbows 
that melt as we gaze; bubbles that burst as we 




grasp; dewdrops that exhale as our eye catches 
their sparkle. ‘The warm heart, chilled by selfish- 
ness, fenced in by doubts, and thrown back upon 
itself. Eye, lip, and brow, trained to tell no tale 
at the portal of what passes within the temple. 
Tears locked in their fountain, save when our own 
household gods are shivered. The great strife, 
not which shall ‘‘love most,’* but “‘ which shall be 
the greater ;’’ and aching hearts the stepping 
stones to wealth and power. Immortal, yet earth 
wedded! Playing with shells upon the shore of 
time, with the broad ocean of eternity before us! 
Careful and troubled about trifles, forgetting to 
‘ask God to take care of Johnny ’—and so, the 
long night of death comes on, and we sleep our 
last sleep ! ”—Can any reflecting mind peruse the 
above, without feeling a reproof,—deep as the 
ocean? Oh, it touches us all! May the saying,— 
“ Ask God to take care of Johnny,” find a resting 
place in each one of our hearts !—Lucy N. 
[Amen! good, kind, amiable Lucy. That 
“saying” shall, at all events, rest in our heart— 
and “thyself” with it.] 

Hammersmith Concerts,—“ The Black Swan,” 
&c.—During the past month, several Concerts 
have been given at the Albion Hall, Hammersmith. 
At one of these we had the pleasure of seeing 
the celebrated “Black Swan,”’—protegee of the 
Duchess of Sutherland; anda remarkably “plump” 
bird she is! We also had the pleasure of hearing 
her. She has, in addition to a ‘‘fine plumage,” 
two sets of voices. With the “one,” she sang 
‘Home, sweet Home ” very sweetly. With the 
“ other,”—but no, ‘‘ we will not mention it.” The 
“second” voice may be more wonderful,—it is so. 
But it really terrifies one to have two such voices 
in one and the same body. De profundis, or 
“ Deeper and deeper still,” on the one hand; and 
“Coming thro’ the Rye” on the other, makes a 
body afraid of the “ wide difference.” We could 
not compass it; nor stomach it in private. 
By the way, this warbling swan is not destitute 
of personal attractions,—albeit the tint thrown 
on them is ray-ther beyond our view of the 
“line of beauty.” Her eyes are vivacious, 
her manner pleasing, her legs what she need 
not be at all ashamed of, her feet “ trim” and 
pretty. Altogether, she is an attraction. The 
veteran Branam was there on this occasion, and 
all his family. His son, Aucusrus, was one of the 
vocalists, and acquitted himself (as he always 
does) excellently well. He sang “The Bay of 
Biscay ” with much spirit. We hardly need say 
how his sire seemed to “relish ” his own favorite. 
Often have we heard him make a lofty hall 
tremble beneath his voice, while dwelling on 
‘“Biscay—Oh!” A Mr. Charles Cotton was also 
among the vocalists. He has a good bass voice, 
and he gave us “the Wolf” with some effect. 
But why is he so habitually dolorovs, lugubrious, 
“hard ?”” He would seem to think smiling, or 
laughing, a crime! Did he ever laugh? We 
wonder at his “odd temper,” seeing that the 
lovely JossPHINE BrouGHAM was one of the choir. 
What a sweet, lady-like girl it is! How lively,— 
how playful,—how good-tempered ! And what a 
delicious voice she has ! She never opens her mouth 
but out comes a diamond or a pearl. No false 
notes; no ridiculous flourishes ; no, “‘ punishing” of 
