| Show HISTORIC DWARFS some of thal most notable of the freaks and their peculiarities while the bible makes mention of several giants and gives the most minute particulars as to their huge proportions and marvelous marv clous strength of body we only once find mention ofa of a dwarf in the sacred pages and then the reference was 0 only Y general no mention is made of any ny particular man or men of such unnaturally small eize size the passage referred to is in leviticus service of the altar i is i defended from all blemished persons among whom a dwarf dwar dwarfish fis is included the custom of having dwarfs dwarf at the court cu rt is very ancient the egyptians had these diminutive persons in their suits and the romans were great admirers of them although they attributed to them an intel capacity rapa caty a little higher than that of inon monkeys keys the emperor augustus had bad edwarf named luel lucius ius who weighed fourteen pounds had a tremendous voice and was only two feet high julia the niece or as ag some say the daughter dau geter of augustus had bad a male dwarf named Con apas two feet and a hands breadth high one of julias free maids andromeda waa was of the same height t richard gibson is one of the most celebrated dwarfs of modern times he casborn was born in 1615 and was not only remarkable remark abla for his smallness Bm allness of stature but for an exceedingly cee good artistic faculty ho he waa was a pupil of dekleyn DeC leyn and imi bated sir peter lely he waa was appointed princesses anted drawing master to the princesses afterward queens Maryan mary and aune dAune his painting re presenting the parable of the thelast lost cheep sh ee was highly prized by C charles earyes I 1 who gave it to to take charge of put it away so carefully that when tho the king asked for it he be could not find it and fearing his royal mast masts ers displeasure he be hanged himself richard gibson givson married anne shepherd court dwarf to queen henrietta maria the king kinz gave away the bride and the queen presented her with a diamond ring weller the court poet wrote one of his pretty sets of verses on the occasion the marriage turned nut rai 1 aly luc ita 1 l cc couple uple had bad nine ildren children five of whom were of full ordinary stature jeffrey hudson perhaps the most renowned of all dwarfs was born in in 1619 at Oak oakham liam in rutland 8 hire his father and mother of full height and jeffrey was tho the only of the family wh who 0 was vas I 1 in in any way extraordinary jeffreys father kept the duke of buckinghamm Bucking hams liania buiting baiting bulla bulls and the little fellow was presented to we duchess of buckingham between the eighth and ninth year of hi his s age and when ho be was scarcely a foot and a half in height it was jeffrey hudson who boon soon after the marriage of charles I 1 when that king and his bride were entertained at burleigh Burl elgh was served up to the table in in cold wd pie whence be jumped onto the tablecloth cloth fully fally armed and made passes at the ladies with his little sword there is a rare old picture of th this is amusing incident in the dwarfs career the duchess presented him bini on that occasion to henrietta maria who was highly pleased with him and kept him her dwarf for many years afterwards poor jeffrey was continually squabbling with the peo people le about court more especially especial 1 1 wa with the giant inet porter of the 11 palace 11 e on one occasion ho ito was nearly drowned in the basin he was washing ing hia his face and hands in another time a large A shrub rub was the only obstacle between him and death by drowning in the thames in 1630 1630 he h was dispatched eh en a domestic in issimil for henrietta maria and returning richly laden with presents from mary of medicis io to her ler daughter he be was made prisoner b by y dunkirk privateers jeffrey fought a duel with a mr crofts who came to the rendezvous armed with nothing more formidable than a squirt Jeff jeffrey ircy who was not incline I to submit tamely to such an insult insisted upon fighting 1 a real duel and shot his antagonist dead immediately dia tely portrait was ijas painted several times by and vandyke and hia his smart little waistcoat breeches brec I 1 ree chea ches a and nd stockings cre p preserved reserved in the Ash muse um af at oxford blatt matthew liew Bu dunger was another celebrated dwarf with neither hands feet legs not thing lie had however two ebere excrescences like f fins ins grow growing engh from froni his shoulders with wh which C h he e wrote and performed many curious curious tricks among which may ma be mentioned dra drawing iving pictures pie t tires with a pen on I 1 P playing I 1 i at dice lice play playing 1119 on the Flaut hautboy boy threading needle play playing ing f at k cards blowing a truan tru m pet petete etc joseph commonly called count Boru wlas ki was wa remarkable cpr his wit and re par artees tees hobent to see tho the great mpr Empress ess maria Mariti theresa when about 14 years of age agg and 28 inches lif agh h tho the empress took him ocher lap and asked what was the roost most wonderful sight he lie biad had seen ai at vienna j ho He answered to such a i little 1 man on so great a ladys lis lap the empress had applen did diamond amond ring on the hand in which she held one of seeing him apparently absorbed in admiration of the jewel sho she asked him bow he liked it when he courteously replied that it waa was not the ring but the beautiful hand band he was looking at which he wanted to kiss the empress P r e s allowed him tho the honor bono r and taking k i n a little ring from mare marle Antoin amt oin ettes finger fin gershe she placed it on the celebrated bebe whose real name was nicholas feny or ferry d warf of stan stanislaus islaub lesczinski Les ezinski the aged dethroned dethroner king of poland was born at plainness Plais ness in the he was wa taken in a plate to tb be christened he was so remarkably tiny at at 2 years old eis his shoes were werd only an inch and a halt long poor bebe was no not long lived at a ver very I 1 early age he showed si signa go waa was of of at 23 he was attacked with a fever which soon terminated his life and he be died on juno june 9 4 A dwarf named calvin phillipa philli w was born at bridgewater mass 11 alq in in 1791 who did not weigh quite two pon pounds ads and whose thigh not thicker than a mans thumb the most celebrated celeb fated of recent recen t dwarda d w arf 8 was charles charle S stratton known as gen eral ral tom toni thumb who wai wal born at bridgeport Bridge porton on the alth I 1 I 1 th of january 1832 ho he waa was first exhibited by barnum at his old american museum in tew york and subsequently Z brought to england where he was presented to her majesty several times I 1 I 1 |
