Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-11-22

swords of proof which are supposed to be Ca
pable of cutting through solid iron or oak, and
are the exclusive weapons Of the deities of
Morse mythology. There is a popular
belief that if one of the dyergar be
encountered, away from the rock, in whose in
terror his workshop is supposed TO be, and
steel be thrown between it and him, his dwell
ing is thereby closed up, and the person who
seizes him can obtain from him great wealth,
long life, or whatever else may be desired.
This legend is evidently identical with that of
the Irish elurieGuHe, otherwise called Iepre-
eaHn, who is generally supposed to be not
much larger than HoP-O'-my-thumb, of nursery
lore, and when encountered is invariably at
tired in the full dress of the last century
peruke, rapier, and tri-cernered hat included
his ~OccspaSon being that of a shoemaker
in-ordinsry to the Fairies. If this small per-
sonage be seized, and kept fast hold, without
once taking your eyes from him, he may be
compelled to give you any amount of treasure
which you desire. But he is said to be cum
ming and full of tricks, and usually cheats his
captors. In one of the Irish Melodies, the
Cluricaune is thus alluded to by Moore.
Her smne when Beauty granted,
hung with gaze enchanted,
Like him the Spute,
Whom maids by night
on meet IN glen's that's haunted.
Like him. too, BeautJ won me,
But whue neT eyes were on me,
If once their ray
Was turned away,
o winds could not outrun ms.
But we have now to speak of real and not
imaginary beings-the creations of supersti-
ton and fancy.
he Roman matrons-perhaps even the No
ther of the Gracchi herself-were fond of dwarf
servants. In the East, also, dwarfs have been
held in high esteem for like uses. The Sutans
at Constantinopls have long maintained a reti-
nue. of dwarfs as pages, who are more particu-
larly attached to the Harem, and those who are
deaf and dumb, as well as ~diminutive, are held
in especial regard.
The readers Of the Waverley novels viii re-
collect what use Scott has made, in "Peveril
of the Peak, . of Godfrey Hudson, the favorite
dwarf Of Charles I. This small parsonage,
born in England in 1919, died in 1852, and was
only eighteen inches high at the age of seven
years, when he was purchased by the Duke of
Buckingham VINO presented him to Queen
Henrietta Maria. He did not grow until he
was so, when he grew to the height of As
inches, and was robust rather than slight.
Charles the First knighted him in a frolic, and
Sir Godfrey he was to his dying day. He
was served up, at the royal table, in a pie, OF
one occasion. A gentleman named Crotts
had insulted him, and was challenged by the
angry dwarf, who destroyed a great deal of ex-
pected mirth by shooting his antagonist through
the head, in a duel on horseback. Hudson
had brains and courage, with a great deal of
personal vanity and s~elfconceit, and, when
the Civil War commenced, actually was a
captain in the royalist army. After many
subsequent vicissitudes, including slavery in
Barbary-where he is said to have been en-
ployed to set upon eggs, to assist their fecun-
dation-he died in prison, to which he had
been committed on suspicion of being impli-
Gated in the Popish Plot. He has been i'm
mortalized by the pencil of Vandyke, and his
clothes are still preserved as articles Of curl
osity, in Sir Hans Sloan's museum.
There was a dwarf attached to the Court of
France until the reign of Louis XIV, when
the salary was abolished. In the Italian and
German Courts, little more than a century
ago, a dwarf was as much one Of the household
as a cook.
Peter the treat, of Russia, once collected q
company of seventy dwarfs, Of both sexes, and
entertained them, in his new capital, with
erotesque splendor, every article being on q
miniature scale. The occasion was the mar
rage of two Court dwarfs. A Dutch dwarf,
Wybrand Lolkes, born in 1870, who weighed
Sc pounds at the age Of 60, and was then only
q inches high, was a good matchmaker.
Madame TERESA, the eGorsican Fairy
born in l743, was "a inches high at the age
Of 80, weighed 56 pounds, was well made,
good looking, a lively conversational, and a
capital Inguist.
The most remarkable dwarf of the last cen
tury was Count Borowlaski, born in Poland in
1879, and died in England in 1887. When
y months old, he was IA inches high; at
the age Of 10 he measured q inches, and was
only IS inches high at the age Of rs, which
stature he never exceeded. He was taken
into the family Of the Countess Humiecska,
when he was only two years old, and his pa
troness had him well educated. He played
the guitar with great skill, danced prettily, and
conversed with liveliness and art. he had an
aptitude for acquiring languages, and spoke
German, French, and Italian, as well as his
native Polish, with great ease and huency.
His broken English was expressive and intelli-
| gible, but he never was able to conquer its
idioms, 30 difficult to foreigners. In 1850, be-
ing then q years old, he accompanied the
Countess Of Hdmiecska to England. He was
then only % inches high. He was weT-lookl
ing, weIlmade, gentle, good'tempered, and
fond Of society. BE was ready with repartee,
remembered what he had seen, and could de-
scribe persons and places with infinite sagacity
and spirit. He wished to have his noble rank
respected, but did not feel annoyed at any
a~llusiOn to his diminutive size. He was,
in fact, q eourty,, well bred gentleman
After this vists to England, the Count ex-
hiBited himself all over Europe. At the age
ofBorty he married, and became a father. He
returned to England, about 1857, and pub
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