
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
the objects of their compassion than by con- 
verting a fortune into pence, and sowing 
the pence broadeast into the furrows of in- 
iquity. If present help must be given, be 
not ashamed to conduct the little shivering 
creatures to the door of the nearest baker or 
pastrycook. Give them a penny roll, give 
them a bun; give them anything, so that 
you stand by yourselves and see it actually 
swallowed. The children will get well 
thrashed when they get back; but blows 
fall lighter upon a full, than upon an empty 
stomach. Banish all thought of furnishing them 
with an article of clothing ; before six hours 
are over, that would be merely converted by 
the proprietors of the children into hot gin- 
and- water and tobacco. 
We have taken first the case of the chil- 
dren; for they are entitled not only to our 
deepest pity and sympathy, but to our active 
assistance. It is quite otherwise with the 
adult and sturdy beggars of either sex. Lon- 
doners—and ye visitors to London, have no 
faith in those lean, sallow faces; in those 
seeming deformities; in those artistically- 
withered arms; in those naked feet; in that 
mendicant whine ; in those looks of theatrical 
agony. It is the vile and loathsome trade of 
many thousand persons within the limits of 
the metropolis, to practise these appeals upon 
the sympathy of the credulous. 
The “profession” is followed secundum 
artem. ‘The rogues are trained to it in their 
academies, as young persons are prepared for 
the stage. The shipwrecked sailor, who 
could not navigate Puddle Dock with suc- 
cess; the Houndsditch vagabond, who has 
walked all the way up from Carlisle in search 
of work; the soldier, ignorant of the mys- 
teries of the goose-step: the swarthy and 
turbaned Lazarus, who speaks the Hindustani 
language in such wise as to necessitate the 
hypothesis of constant communication be- 
tween Delhiand Kilkenny,—beware of them ! 
Then, there are others, of a gregarious 
nature. A disconsolate, lantern-jawed man, 
is presumed to be the head of a family “ in 
reduced circumstances ;” most commonly he 
parades his misery without any musical 
efforts. By his side, there walks a thin 
small, and disconsolate matron; as far ad- 
vanced in pregnancy as a pillow can make 
her! She wears an old black silk bonnet, 
which the most slovenly charwoman in Lon- 
don has rejected as unfit for further pur- 
poses of coquetry; and plays the flageolet 
or fiddle, or any unexpected instrument. 
Her apron is clean, to symbolise the past 
respectability of the family. A numerous 
flock has crowned the hopes of the parents. 
Seven, eight, or nine children attend them; 
independently of the babe obligato carried by 
the mother, and tortured occasionally into 
screams by ‘“‘secret arrangements.” 


351 
The identity between the sizes of three or 
four of the children would seem to imply 
that the phenomenon of double twins, or sets 
of twins, at a birth, is not so uncommon as 
has been generally supposed. Such is one 
of the most ordinary forms which a begging 
party will assume; and to this one, for sheer 
want of space, we must confine our illustra- 
tion. If such misery were real, it would be 
terrible indeed; but we have the most per- 
fect knowledge that the whole thing is a 
mere spectacle to impose upon the unwary; 
and that the seeming father and mother are 
wretches and vagabonds well known to the 
police. 
Can any one suppose, for a moment, that 
in bestowing alms upon such persons, he is 
really performing a charitable work? No! 
People give promiscuous alms, just to satisfy 
their consciences. If otherwise, it is per- 
haps to get rid of a nuisance. We will not 
tarry to inquire further, from what motive 
they give. They do give; and thereby in- 
flict a serious injury on society. 
The little vagabonds, full of vermin, and 
half eaten up with dirt, that haunt the street- 
crossings in Portland-place, &c., are a public 
nuisance. They get a nice living from the 
young ladies of the neighborhood during 
the day; and at night they rob every un- 
suspecting person of something of value. 
Girls and boys,—both are alike. The police- 
mennever interfere with them. There would 
appear to be a very “good understanding” 
between all parties. 
That this is so, no person will contradict. 
Ought it to continue ? 

I SAID :—YOU VOWED. 

I roLp you roses ne’er would wed 
Their bloom to wintry air ; 
But then you pressed my lips and said, 
The rose you loved bloomed there ! 
I said the wintry day was bare, 
The sun far out ot view ; 
You smiled, and vowed my golden hair 
Was sun-light unto you! 
I said the woods no more rejoice 
With notes more sweet than words ; 
But, oh, you whispered then, my voice 
Was sweeter than the birds. 
And still whatever charm I named 
That lends to Spring delight, 
You for your own lov’d maiden claim’d 
And lived but in her sight ! 
? 
Blow, chilling winds of winter, blow ! 
Whilst love the heart illumes,— 
Life’s roses still exist ’mid snow, 
And spring eternal blooms ! 
Roll, heavy clouds of winter, roll ! 
Love, from the dark, hath thrown 
A sun-light over heait and soul 
More bright than Heaven’s own ! 
CHARLES Swatn. 
