The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-20 00:00:00

The Dwarfs at the Crystal Palace.

It is recorded in the veracious chronicle of the
adventures of Mr Lemuel Gulliver, of Emanuel
College, Cambridge, and elsewhere, that when he
fell into the hands of the Brobdignagian farmer,
that worthy could find no better use for him than
to exhibit him. Probably the inhabitants of Brob-
dignag were more surprised at the littleness of Gul-
liver than the Lilliputians were at his bigness, and
there was in their case this further advantage that
they could handle him without any fear. A giant.
is an uncanny animal to deal with ; he may do one a
damage in case he gets v. xed, but a dwarf is a very
different thing, quite as curious and not half so
alarming,. No wonder, then, that several thousands
were yesterday attracted to the Crystal Palace to
see no fewer than four dwarfs, all related, or to be
related—one of them famous when most of the men
of the present generation were still in their teens,
and the rest even smaller than the famed Tom
Thumb. The general gives e very sensible excuse
for breaking through his original intention of keep-
ing quiet during his visit to Europe. People, he
says, won't let him alone when he goes to see any
of the wonders of the " Old Home," and he thinks
if he shows himself and his wife for a week or so
at the Crystal Palace that he will fairly earn the
right to go about as a private visitor to this coun-
try, and may at the same time do a good turn to
his sister-in-law and her intended husband by
showing how much smaller they are than laimse.f.
It is no wonder, then, that so many people were
at Sydenham yesterday ; the wonder is, rather
that there were not very many more. The
Palace is such a capital place to spend a winter
day in that very many went down early
and passed away the time in seeing the Shakspere
House, in b❑ying toys for Christmas, in admiring
Mr Brown's really beautiful medals to commemorate
the opening of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, in
having their portraits taken—in doing some of the
thousand things which are open to all who go to
Sydeaham. Three o'clock was the hour named for
the levee of the little folks, and by that time the
space in front of the great orchestra was pretty well
filled, while in the reserved seats below the organ
there was a goodly throng. Four chairs of green
and gold were placed on a little raised platform on
the orchestra, and hither, soon after the appointed
time, came Mr and Mrs Stratton and Miss Minnie
Warren, with " Commodore" Nutt, and their spokes■
man, introduced to those assembled by Mr Bowley,
the energetic manager of the Crystal Palace. The
small folks were very well received, and several
children occupying places in the reserved seats were
placed beside them by way of contrast, the Crystal
Palace band the while playing some pleasant music.
The levee lasted about half an hour, when " the dise
tinguished strangers" made their bow and retired.
To-day, we believe, they will give, at half-past two
o'clock, a levee in the board-room of the Palace, when
they will appear in the dresses worn at Tom
Thumb's wedding ; and at halfepast three they will
show themselves to the general visitors es they did
yesterday. We ere assured that it is only at the
Crystal Palace and during this week that Mr and
Mrs Stratton will appear in company with Mr Nutt
and Miss Warren. Those, therefore, who desire to
see the whole party must go to Sydenham before
the end of the week,